This one's silly and pretty much sucks, lol. I didn't do the picture in my head any justice at all, but I had a mighty need, so. I may even take it down and do a redo later (but I wrote and posted it at 2 am, so you get to read crappy fanfic).

Season 4 AU. The Grove. But a few things are different. Read it. You'll see.


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xx8xx

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"Come back to bed."

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Daryl's side of the bed is empty.

.

It's the first thing Carol registers before the world blinks into a dreamlike focus, the edges blurred and softened, the details hazy. His side of the bed is empty, just his lonely imprint in the sheets and the faint scents of wood smoke and sugar-sweet pralines remaining, and she's cold. Winter's chill is seeping into her bones and setting up a low throb. Her fingers and toes prickle with it, and she pulls the blankets up to her chin.

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Behind the parted curtains, ice laces the window panes. Outside, white flakes float like whispers on the sighing wind.

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It's pretty, picturesque and perfect in a way that doesn't exist anymore, like a snow globe, and she presses her bittersweet smile into her pillow with the thoughts of her lost little girl, of the little girls they've lost since they happened upon this Grove. Fatigue wraps its insistent fingers around her burdened body, coaxes her into its embrace, and she drifts again.

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Daryl's side of the bed is still empty.

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But his shadow darkens the bedroom door when she opens her eyes again, and he's all lean lines and strength, gentle hesitance as one rough hunter's hand cradles Judith close to his chest and the other rests atop Mika's honeyed head. "Daryl," she murmurs, her voice all sleepy soft and encouraging. "Come back to bed."

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Shy feet shuffle and stumble across the cold wood floor, and the covers rustle as they are lifted.

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Mika burrows beneath the pile of blankets and curls around Carol like a lazy kitten, her chilly nose tucked into the well of her throat and her arm tossed carelessly across the prominent swell of her belly. Judith frets quietly and finally settles, her tiny hand fisted in the worn plaid fabric covering Daryl's broad shoulder until her face gradually smooths back into sleep.

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Daryl's side of the bed is no longer empty.

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He watches Carol with soft blue eyes and an apologetic curl of his lip, makes a feeble attempt at explaining. "Thought it'd be warmer."

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She smiles because it is. It's cozy, too. And she teases him in between yawns and soothing rubs of her belly, shifts her own legs restlessly. "Cuddle puddles always are."

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"Pfft." His lips move over Judith's fine strawberry hair in an absent kiss before he frowns. "Hell's a cuddle puddle? Just sharin' body heat."

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"Right."

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"Stahp."

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Daryl's side of the bed is never empty again.

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Feedback is love so send me some.

Thanks so much for reading!

Feedback is love so send me some.

Thanks for reading!